December 23, 2008

The Inaugural Ode Contest: And the Winner Is . . .

But first, the runners up.Last month, we announced The Third Annual Best American Poetry Poem Challenge, for which poets were invited towrite an inaugural ode, suitable for reading aloud on January 20, 2009. It had to consist of sixteen lines broken into four quatrains, rhyme scheme optional. Furthermore, the ode had to include one line lifted from a poem in The Best American Poetry 2008 or from the book's foreword or introduction, and also include at least three of the following words: honor, integrity, faith, hope, change, power. Poet Mark Strand selected the winner and runners up.

Tied for third place is this fine poem, American Meditation, by Valentina Gnup, of Portland, Oregon. Congratulations, Valentina, and thank you for your poem.

American Meditation

Your father wakes, kisses the soft curve of your mother,rises with faith in the man who will collect his garbage, the woman who will deliver the mail. His America was always a train whistle, the honor of going to work.

The sky’s light behind the mountain changes from red to blue. He walks beside a Walmart and Starbucks— those make-believe Americas. At 81, his shoulders hunch;he forgets to look up—the way we all forget to look up.

Your father rests beside a river as wide as hope—gold maple leaves roil and churn in the cold foam, floating like the faraway war dead we forget as soon as the news is quiet. America is that river, those golden leaves too.

On his porch, any old man in a Dodgers sweatshirt,he stares back at the last century, unable to recognizethe one he walks through now. Across the drivewayhis neighbor calls out, It’s warmer today, a little warmer.

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The Inaugural Ode Contest: And the Winner Is . . .

But first, the runners up.Last month, we announced The Third Annual Best American Poetry Poem Challenge, for which poets were invited towrite an inaugural ode, suitable for reading aloud on January 20, 2009. It had to consist of sixteen lines broken into four quatrains, rhyme scheme optional. Furthermore, the ode had to include one line lifted from a poem in The Best American Poetry 2008 or from the book's foreword or introduction, and also include at least three of the following words: honor, integrity, faith, hope, change, power. Poet Mark Strand selected the winner and runners up.

Tied for third place is this fine poem, American Meditation, by Valentina Gnup, of Portland, Oregon. Congratulations, Valentina, and thank you for your poem.

American Meditation

Your father wakes, kisses the soft curve of your mother,rises with faith in the man who will collect his garbage, the woman who will deliver the mail. His America was always a train whistle, the honor of going to work.

The sky’s light behind the mountain changes from red to blue. He walks beside a Walmart and Starbucks— those make-believe Americas. At 81, his shoulders hunch;he forgets to look up—the way we all forget to look up.

Your father rests beside a river as wide as hope—gold maple leaves roil and churn in the cold foam, floating like the faraway war dead we forget as soon as the news is quiet. America is that river, those golden leaves too.

On his porch, any old man in a Dodgers sweatshirt,he stares back at the last century, unable to recognizethe one he walks through now. Across the drivewayhis neighbor calls out, It’s warmer today, a little warmer.